Why do I like triathlons?
Initially, it was probably my ego motivating me.

I started doing triathlons, primarily, because a friend of mine (who was overweight) kept going on and on about this woman that he knew and how she did triathlons. I don’t know if he wanted me to meet her or what, but I never heard the end of it.

He kept talking about how she was a cyclist and did triathlons–so much so that it made me question my ability. I was like, “I swam competitively for six years, why not?”

Then 911 happened and I got even more inspiration. I went out and bought a road bike and 18 months later my 1st Olympic distance triathlon was in the history books..at least in mine.

My Keys to Successful Distance Running:
One thing I’ve discovered about distance running is that there are about three main aspects of one’s level of fitness:

1) endurance factor – The endurance factor is about having a good base of miles run. During my peak, I would run 2 miles/day[for speed] and one 12 mile run on Saturday. Once I built my endurance–I’d do a 7-mile loop 3 times per week and usually when I’d run the 7, the first 2 miles are borderline disastrous and difficult but once I caught my rhythm, the rest would be cake.

2) leg speed – Mostly I would train for leg speed on treadmills because it is really easy to monitor and gauge progress. (Be warned though, I have been told that treadmills are generally not made to go faster than a 6-minute/mile pace.) I add 1/4 mile repeats at a 6 minute mile pace to my weight lifting routines for about four weeks and, when I have a good base of running miles during my training season, I can run a six minute mile effortlessly during the 5th week–other than the speed training-I don’t really mess with treadmills

3) arm strength – When running for distance I had to add this barbell exercise to my workout so that I would not tire out during the last few miles of my distance running. Strong arms are crucial for running.

If you can get over the conditioning, though, running can give you an unexplainable “high” that, to this day, I cannot say enough words to do it any justice.